Secretly
by pretty in orange
Summary: Trowa and Catherine's relationship is a secret because although they're not blood related, society considers them siblings. Non related TrowaXCatherine. Brothers and Boyfriends Spin off. AU
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I try really hard not to write fiction after ten PM, mostly because everything I've tried to do then has gone terribly wrong. So I decided to start this, which I've been meaning to start for... about a month. In here, Trowa and Catherine are _**not**_ related. Here we go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make a profit from this.

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><p>Is it really so wrong to love your brother?<p>

I mean, he isn't my blood brother, and I _love _him. But he just as easily could've been my neighbor, my classmate, or my boyfriend.

Well, he is still my boyfriend.

_"Catherine," Mom whispered to me as she nudged the new boy towards me. I was seven, and he was only six. My family had just adopted him, and he was chewing on his bottom lip, looking at me with blank, tired eyes._

_I stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. I was taller, since I was a little bit older, and I stroked his hair gently._

_"You're pretty." The boy whispered, touching my hair lightly._

_Mom didn't take it as anything that needed to be reprimanded, and neither did Dad. They just smiled, and Dad slipped into his home office, while Mom headed into the kitchen._

_"Thank you. What's your name?" I asked the boy. His hair was over his eye, and I brushed it away to get a good look at him._

_"Trowa." The boy flinched as if I was going to hit him when I touched his hair, and I could see why. He had an almost faded black eye, and I could see why he had needed adopting. His family had hurt him._

_"Welcome to the family, Trowa." I kissed his forehead. "You're going to have the best sister in the world." I grinned at him to let him know I was teasing, and then grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go play."_

_That day, Trowa was extremely compliant. He played with my dolls and me and he seemed happy about it. He kept staring at me, and while I found that a little bit perturbing, I also found it sweet. The idea of my new little brother crushing on me didn't disturb me all that much. After all, I knew even back then we weren't technically related._

Some attractions don't fade.

_"_Hey." Trowa murmured, walking into my room and sitting on my bed next to me. He kissed me once, lightly, and then gave me a little smile.

"Where are the parentals?" I asked, peering out the door. I didn't want to get caught, and we had been so careful for years.

"Dad ran into work and Mom ran to grocery store for something." Trowa pulled me onto his lap, holding me close. "So we get some alone time."

I turned toward him, kissing him lightly. "This time, when you hear the door open, don't continue kissing me." I teased lightly, though it was kind of a serious joke. One time we had been making out in my room and the front door had opened. We had been too busy to stop, and Dad, coming home early, had almost caught us.

"How much longer can we continue doing this, you think?" Trowa asked as he held me closer.

"I don't know." I tucked my face into the hollow of his throat, years later he's now much taller than me. "I have to go to college in a year, but if everything is still working I could go to the local one."

"Do you have any faith in us?" Trowa's lips turned down at the corners. "It seems like you're always looking for a way out."

"No, that's not it." I rubbed my forehead to prevent an oncoming migraine. Trowa and I had these conversations so much more lately that it was getting to both of us. "It just seems like... like things shouldn't be working. We're adoptive siblings, why would a relationship work? Why haven't we been caught?"

"Maybe they know already." He murmured, his hand knitting through my hair.

"We've been so careful though..." I heard keys in the front door and jumped off his lap and onto my bed, as if we were having a nice normal sibling conversation. Trowa sighed, a small, yet very annoyed, exhale before the door opened. We hated hiding, but we were sure there was no other way to stay together.

But we had never tried to tell anyone the truth until Relena had come to town and found out. She was our sole friend that knew the truth, and she was keeping our secret.

Mom peered into my room and smiled. "My children get along so well." She said in a singsong tone. "I would never wish for anything else."

Trowa and I looked at each other when she walked away. When we were both 18, things could be different. But for now, we had to hide our relationship or risk it being broken by our parents...

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><p>AN: I just needed a lead in; I felt I didn't do very well with the first chapter. Anyway, what did you think?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I wanted to update all my big stories tonight, as we have to visit my great uncle tomorrow, and go shopping for a new fan at some point, and Monday, I have no clue what's going on. I just know that we have crap to do, so I don't know when I'll be able to update again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make a profit from this.

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><p>"What if you just told them?" Relena asked as we sat in her room, the door shut. Both babies crying mostly masked our voices. Noin's twins, Naina and Milou, were both screaming their heads off, despite that both parents were trying to calm them. Luckily, that meant that Relena and I had a high level of privacy.<p>

"Then something bad would inevitably happen." I huffed and lay back on the carpet, staring at Relena's green ceiling. "Maybe they'd send Trowa or me away, maybe they'd set us up with some shrink to teach us that we're siblings. You don't understand my parents, Ree. They think we're just super close siblings, and it would kill them inside to find out that we're together."

"Maybe not." Relena stretched out beside me, rubbing her forehead. "I mean, you could hold out until you were 18 to tell them, but then they could screw with your college funds if they didn't like you being together. I think your best bet is to just spit it out. Maybe at the dinner table?"

"Oh, yeah, that would be perfect." I rolled my eyes. "'Sir, how did your wife choke?' 'Our daughter told us she's dating her brother.' That would go over real smooth. And I don't think Trowa could handle me just saying it that way either, I'd probably have to do mouth to mouth on him and then both my parents would be choking." I glanced at Relena and sighed. She had her hand clamped over her mouth and her flat stomach was bouncing up and down a bit in laughter she couldn't hide. "What? How is this funny?"

"Drama Queen Catherine, would you like a crown?" Relena propped herself up on her elbows and pretended to place a crown on my head. "They love you, and if they didn't they would've given you up for adoption. Even if they see it as something terrible at first, they're going to come to their senses eventually. You are their daughter, and they want you to be happy. I've seen you with your parents, they love you. It's not like Trowa is your blood brother, then they'd probably be ticked off. But you and Trowa haven't known each other your whole lives even. It shouldn't be that big of a deal to them. Sure, at first they might get mad and be irrational about it, but they have to understand that love works in mysterious ways, after all, they are married."

"Would you like a pulpit, Preacher Relena?" I shot back at her. "Don't preach what you can't practice. If Duo were your adopted brother, how would Milliardo and Noin feel about you dating him?"

"Considering they're not my parents, they'd probably be cool with it." Relena said softly, and the room went dead silent. Outside the door, we could still hear Naina wailing her shrill cry, but Milou had apparently calmed.

"Sorry. I'll go." I stood before she could say anything to me, and was out the door. Noin and Milliardo either didn't notice me, or had the feeling that I didn't want to talk to them, as they said nothing when I slipped out the front door.

I banged into my house, tears brimming at my eyes. Everything was all messed up and I hated it.

The house sounded empty, and I wasn't watching where I was going, so I let out a yelp when I ran into someone. I looked up to see Dad staring at me with a worried glint in his eyes.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" He put a hand on my shoulder. "You look down. Did something happen?"

"No, I'm ok." I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the budding tears. "I'm just... not feeling well. I'm going to go take a nap."

"Alright, feel better." Dad slipped around me as I made my way to my room.

I shut the door after me and lay on my bed. I didn't want to cry, seriously, who ever really wants to bawl their eyes out and lose control? I lay there and let a few tears slip out, but I didn't sob, and I just lay there in silence.

Something slipped under the door and I looked down. The fluffy lion pen that was Trowa and my secret code for _"Can I come in?"_ lay on the floor.

"Come in." I mumbled and brushed my tears away.

Trowa slipped inside, leaving the door open a crack to avoid suspicion, and sat beside me. "Did you get into a fight with Relena?"

I nodded miserably. Trowa sat me up and gave me a hug, holding me just a moment too long for it to be a normal hug.

"I'm here." He whispered, holding me still. "Even if she's not, I'm here."

I hugged him, burying my face in his shirt for just a moment, and then I stood. I walked over to my vanity and wiped the tear marks away, biting my lip.

Was staying with my love too much to ask for?

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><p>AN: A longer, very emotionally heavy chapter. I don't know when or if this will get lighter, simply because it is a hard subject to write on. Anyway, what did you think?


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I wanted to add to everything tonight, but I was planning on finishing my fiction work much earlier (about two hours ago) so I don't know if I can add to everything like I planned...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make a profit from this.

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><p>"You must be in a nightmare." I blinked at Relena who had Naina in one of those seat things, strapped to her stomach.<p>

"It's been worse before." Relena shrugged. "Nobody could get her to stop crying, and this calms her down so I offered. Come talk to me."

I glanced at Trowa, who stood behind me and he gave me a little nod. Then I slipped out the door and followed her outside.

"I'm sorry. I was a..." I glanced at Naina, who was looking at me with curiosity only babies can pull off. "Jerk." I said just to be on the safe side.

Naina cooed and grabbed a handful of Relena's hair, pulling.

"Apology accepted. I'm sorry I provoked you." Relena was trying to detach Naina's hand from her hair. "Ow, ow, sweetie, that's my hair. Please let go."

In response, Naina only pulled her hair more and giggled.

"Duo lets her play with his braid, I think she's confused." Relena was trying to gently unfurl Naina's hand and was failing.

"Let me." I tickled Naina until she let go, and she was giggling uncontrollably. "Babies aren't that hard to understand."

"I still think you should tell your parents." Relena sighed. "They do love you. But it is your choice, so I won't intrude anymore."

Naina made a grab for my hair, but it was too short for her.

"Sorry squirt." I told the baby and then looked at Relena. "I'll have to tell them someday, I just... I don't think they'd get it now. I don't want to lose Trowa because Mom says I have to. I mean, they know he's a good person; I just don't think they'd approve. Plus they'd probably think we're already having sex. My parents tend to jump to conclusions like that."

"I don't know, maybe not." Relena shrugged a bit. "They seem like mostly reasonable people... though they did have you." She grinned to let me know she was teasing.

"I want to call you something, but I won't since there's an impressionable child present." I smirked at her.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Relena laughed hard enough that Naina looked surprised. "Noin says things in front of the babies that would make a sailor put down his drink and say, '_She said what, now?_'"

"Geez." I shook my head. "Even as a Mother she won't tone down her language?"

"She says she's not going to shelter them." Relena shrugged. "It's a little bit frustrating, it's not how I'd raise my kids."

"When I have kids I'm not going to tell them their father was considered my brother." I smiled at Relena and then we both laughed. "I really think maybe I should tell my parents now though, especially since I think Trowa and I are going to stay together in the long run..."

"I'm glad you found someone you're really in love with." Relena brushed Naina's hair out of her face, that girl had a lot of hair for being so young. "Duo and I got into a little... spat the other day."

"What happened?" I felt my mouth turn down automatically; Duo and Relena were the town's sweetheart couple. They had barely fought since the day they met, let alone got into any serious arguments.

"I made a comment about my ex-boyfriend..." Relena sighed, and her breath shook just a little. "And Duo thought I was alluding to the nonexistent fact that I would go back to him if I could. Yeah, right."

I slipped my arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight that way, so I wouldn't squish the baby. Still, Naina instantly began to scream.

"She gets jealous when she's not in on the love." Relena laughed a bit, composing herself quickly. "Naina, Naina!" Relena cooed and kissed the top of her head. "Come on, Naina, everyone loves you."

I managed to catch Naina's attention and crossed my eyes at her, making her laugh again.

"Now I'm jealous of you." Relena laughed. "Anyway, I should get home. Are we cool now?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "See you later."

I returned to the house, where Trowa was standing. "Trowa?" I whispered. When he turned to me, I asked, "Will it last?" I asked, referring to our relationship in code, since I didn't know where our parents were.

Trowa contemplated this for a moment. Finally, he whispered, "I hope so."

I hoped so too, with everything I had...

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><p>AN: I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I couldn't do it. It was my attempt at a lighter chapter, so what did you think?


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I have two hours to do everything I need to, and I know I'm not going to make it in time to do what I want to, which is a Pretear marathon. After this, I wanted to start a one-shot collection for my OCs, which was requested, and do two character sheets for my original story (again, requested). I wish I could stop time sometimes to get everything I need to done... enough of my ranting though!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing; I don't make a profit from this.

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><p>"Where's Mom?" I yawned the next Friday as I felt Trowa crawl into bed with me. I had slept late, and had a hard time waking up, so I had no clue where our parents were. Usually Trowa wouldn't pull any stupid stunts, and I did trust him, but I still worried.<p>

"Went to visit Aunt Rena for the weekend." Trowa slipped his arms around me, pulling me close.

"And Dad?" I cuddled even closer to him, unworried about how my hair looked or that I was in my pajamas. Trowa and I were too close to worry about those things. It comes from sharing a house nearly your whole life, I think.

"He went to work and said he was going to work late by about an hour." Trowa kissed my forehead. "We're alone."

"Mmhmm." I reached up and toyed with his bangs. Sometimes I find it funny that he never changed his hair, but mostly I just find it cute and realistic. So much changes, but some things never will, I guess.

"When Mom gets back, I think we should tell them." Trowa whispered in my ear.

I shoved him out of the bed and leaned over the side as I glared at him. "We can't tell them yet, don't even think about it. They'll split us up!"

"Cathy." Trowa sat up on the floor so were face to face. "I don't want to get you in trouble because we never told them. We would probably give Mom and Dad a heart attack if we just up and married one day. We need to tell them..."

"I'm sorry..." I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him all over his face. "I'm sorry." I repeated, over and over, until I was crying and apologizing. "I don't want to lose you, I'm sorry..."

"I understand." Trowa grabbed a Kleenex off my nightstand and wiped my tears away. "I know it's hard. But we can't lie forever. I don't want to lie to them forever; they raised us. Do they deserve to be lied to?"

"If they want to split us up, then yes." I whispered, holding onto his shirt now. "I don't ever want to have to leave you because of what someone else says."

"If they want to break us up, then we'll fight it." Trowa leaned in and kissed me lightly. "Because true love finds a way."

I grabbed him and kissed him with everything I had. We wouldn't be broken up; I didn't care what it took.

Trowa said we had true love on our side, and I agreed. Against all odds, we would still make it.

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><p>AN: Short chapter, and it would've been done sooner but I got distracted... as per usual. And I'm sorry I haven't been adding everyday, I slept 16 hours when I planned to add in the morning. Anyway, what did you think?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I wasn't sure how to do this chapter until right now, so this is kind of split-second writing for me, and I hope that you like it, even though it so wasn't planned. It was kind of the "oops baby" of this project. Anyway, let's get going.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make a profit from this.

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><p>At dinner on Monday, when Trowa and I had planned to tell our parents the truth about us, we got the shock of our lives.<p>

"We're considering divorce." Mom said, over her plate of pasta, like this was normal dinner conversation. _Hey, kids, we're getting a divorce, how does that sound?_

I choked on a piece of a meatball and forced it down with half a glass of water. Trowa looked so pale it seemed as if someone had dumped a bag of flour over him. We glanced at each other in a panic, and I felt my eyes tear up.

"What? I mean, for you two?" I found myself spluttering, unable to come up with any coherent sentences that worked. "You always seem so..."

"We're going to go to couple's counseling first, see if we can work it out, but we want you kids to be prepared for the worst." Dad wouldn't look at anyone, not even Mom, and he kept twirling the same piece of spaghetti on his fork. "Things aren't working with your Mother and I lately. We're going to try, it just... it doesn't look good."

I couldn't take it. I couldn't sit there at the table like everything was dandy when my parents wouldn't look at each other and their marriage was falling apart. I shoved my chair back and ran outside, falling into the grass on my knees, wrapped my arms around my chest and started to cry. Not soft little sobs, the kind that make it look like you're crying for a camera, I was sobbing so loud and hard that my whole body was seizing upon itself with each one. I heard yelling that I couldn't decode, and then the front door slam hard enough that the wind chimes on the porch jangled.

"Cathy..." Trowa whispered, touching my shoulder with his fingertips. I got the message, he wasn't sure if the parents were watching, but they couldn't hear us. We had closed windows and air conditioning to thank for that. "It'll be alright, please don't cry..."

"Everything is falling apart!" I choked on each word, tears having coated my throat. "I don't know how much longer anything will last when everything is fraying at the edges and unraveling! I don't want us to be from a broken family, Trowa, and that means we have less of a chance. And I don't want to be some broken family statistic, you shouldn't want to be either."

"We're not going to end up like them." Trowa sat beside me in the grass, holding my hand. "We love each other, no matter what happens."

We both turned when yelling voices rose from inside the house. I squeezed Trowa's hand and took a few shaky breaths.

"I'll love you, even if we end up with different parents." I whispered, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "It sucks that you were adopted by us because your family sucked and now this one does."

"It could be worse." Trowa whispered, and he hugged me as tight as his arms could hold.

Inside, the yelling voices rose to a new level.

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><p>AN: Short chapter, but I had a small point that I needed to make and nothing else. I will try to update more often, but I was kind of blocked on this story. I think it's getting better now though. Anyway, what did you think?


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: First off, thanks goes to Truish for giving me information about what happens if the parents do divorce, so thank you Truish! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far as well, you guys and girls keep me writing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make any profit from this.

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><p>In the end, after a long discussion where the volume of their voices varied, it was Dad who left. Despite the fact that they were still in marriage counseling, trial separation had been suggested, but they had to decide who would leave. Dad got the boot on a Saturday evening.<p>

Trowa and I had been sitting in the hall, just out of their line of view, but within listening range. Our hands intertwined, we were together as we heard Mom mutter, "And don't come back until you can be faithful."

I looked at Trowa and had the horrible feeling of making a choice, I was either going to cry or vomit. I let the tears slip down my face and I squeezed Trowa's hand as I tried to stay silent.

Mom hadn't caught us yet, and she was still within range and talking to herself. Although she was being quiet, there was no other noises to drown her out, and we heard everything she said in full blast.

"One night stand my ass." Mom huffed, and as far as we could tell she hadn't moved from her spot at the table yet. "You've done this for years, and every time you expect me to forgive you. I'm a one-man woman and you should be a one-woman man. No exceptions."

I pressed closer to Trowa with the horror of it all. I had always thought of my Father as the role model for all men, I had never suspected he was cheating on my Mother. How had she found out?

I leaned my head on Trowa's shoulder, trying to make it look innocent, but Mom didn't seem to be moving from her seat.

"_I can't believe this." _I mouthed to Trowa, and though my breath hitched, I still refused to make a sound. _"I just can't."_

Trowa didn't say anything, didn't even mouth anything back. Instead, he just kissed my forehead, squeezed my hand, and helped me up.

I didn't ask anything, I just let him lead. Usually I was the one guiding him, but at that moment, it seemed logical to let him guide.

We ended up on the back porch, on the porch swing. Trowa tapped my shoulders, we weren't sure if Mom was coming out after us or not, so nonverbal cues were best, and I sat down on the swing. He perched himself next to me, and gently pushed the swing once with his foot.

Somehow, the motions calmed me down. Funny how something that calms a small child can calm a nearly hysterical 17-year-old girl as well. Trowa squeezed my hand and we sat there in silence. We had a nice view of the sky as the sun set, and I cuddled up to him as the air cooled. We were nearing autumn, the leaves tinted orange in some places and the air going a little chilly at night. Soon, we would be going back to high school, me for my senior year, Trowa for his junior year. The thought of having to hide our love from a whole other set of people was startling in it's own, and it chilled me to the bone.

"We won't be split up." I whispered, leaning my head back on his shoulder. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure we don't get put with separate parents. I won't give up so easily."

"That's good to hear." Trowa glanced at the door and then whispered in my ear. "I love you, Catherine."

"I love you too, Trowa." I replied, my voice cracking a bit with the flood of tears that just kept coming. "And I'll make everything ok. I don't care what it takes."

I expected the divorce battle to get ugly, but in reality, I didn't know what to expect. I just knew that I would fight tooth and nail to keep Trowa by my side.

So of course I wasn't expecting what came next.

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><p>AN: I wanted the chapter to be longer, but it didn't work. Anyway, as usual, what did you think?


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This is my only project that is getting any attention other than my one-shot collections. My other story, a Spiral story called Safety, is going down if someone doesn't leave a review soon. I don't want it clogging up Fanfiction just being there. If you've watched Spiral, the anime, will you please head over there?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make any profit from this.

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><p>I awoke the next morning to someone shaking me. Gentle hands slipped across my arm as someone whispered my name. "Catherine..."<p>

I opened my eyes to see Trowa, standing above me, his expression pinched. "Cathy." He murmured, slipped an arm around me and hauled me to my feet.

Nothing had really registered yet, but I could hear a noise coming from the nearest bathroom. It slowly hit me that someone was sobbing, loud enough that I could hear it through the bathroom door.

"Mom?" I whispered, knocking lightly on the door. "Mom, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Cathy." Mom replied, and the sobbing stopped abruptly. I heard her blow her nose, flush the toilet, bang all the drawers shut, and then she exited, but she wouldn't look at me. She slipped into the living room, silent and plunked down on the couch.

"Go talk to her." I whispered in Trowa's ear. "Don't argue, just do it."

Trowa nodded and slipped into the living room. I watched him go, and then I went into the bathroom and shut the door behind me.

Ever since we were little, Trowa and I knew that Mom hid things in the bathroom. We never let her know that we knew, we just discovered them and put them neatly back in their places. Sometimes there were letters, usually just from family members we weren't getting along with, and sometimes there were trinkets that we never knew where they came from.

But this time I didn't have to go looking. A small box was sticking out of the trash bin, and I pulled it out.

My stomach did a nervous flip in my abdomen, and then dropped somewhere into my toes. It was a home pregnancy test, and there was one in the box.

I peered inside the box, and then pulled the pregnancy test out with shaking fingers. "Yes" was written across the screen in plain, horrifying letters.

Mom and Dad were getting a divorce, and Mom was pregnant.

I swallowed, placed the box and test back in the trash, and then sat down on the floor. Everything was spinning, and then everything went black within a few seconds.

I didn't even feel my head hit the floor.

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><p>"Catherine!" Mom was sobbing again, but this time we were in a plain white room. I was on a bed, and Mom and Trowa were sitting beside me in wire and plastic chairs that looked like deathtraps.<p>

"You're pregnant?" I blinked in horror at the fact that was the first thing I had said after waking up in the hospital. "Mom, you're pregnant?"

Trowa's eyes went as big as trashcan lids and he looked at Mom.

"Shh, Cathy." Mom scolded as she wiped away her tears. "The whole world doesn't need to know yet."

Trowa moved from his seat beside Mom to sit by my hip on the bed. I leaned back on the bed, realizing for the first time just how hard my head was pounding. Still, I turned to Mom and leveled her with a stare.

"Go call Dad, go call him _right now_." I hissed through clenched teeth. My head throbbed with each word, but I wasn't giving up.

"Catherine, a baby won't fix your father's behavior." Mom said, almost evenly, but she stood.

"He deserves to know, doesn't he?" I eyed her for a moment before I asked, "It is Dad's, isn't it?"

Mom walked out without answering me.

"I hate them." I whispered, the tears sliding down my cheeks only making my head pound with more force. "This family is so screwed up!"

"Shh, Cathy..." Trowa whispered, holding my hand. "I'm here."

I didn't want to look ungrateful, but I kept crying. The shine in Trowa's eyes didn't help any.

I kept crying until I was released that evening.

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><p>AN: Their family is kind of... corrupted. It will be explained later on, there are specific terms that I'll use and such. Anyway, what did you think?


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I believe I promised an add here, so here we go. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, put this on favorites, and alerts, and kept me going in general. Thank you also goes to Truish for reminding me how the phone can ring at the absolute worst time. If you like Gundam Wing in general, go read her story, Leap Of Faith, it's awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make a profit from this, but don't we know this by now?

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><p>Mom disappeared the second we got home, telling Trowa to call the hospital if anything went wrong with me. Beyond those few words of advice, we were left alone.<p>

We slipped into my bedroom just to find someplace that was comfortable enough to hide in for a while.

"This family... is horrible." I swiped at my eyes though I had run out of tears somewhere on the drive home. It had become such an automatic response, since I felt like crying every time I said something. Everything was wrecked, and I couldn't stand it.

"We'll make it through." Trowa pulled me closer, holding me against his chest.

I let out a weak little laugh, how funny that barely a day ago, I had been the one so sure that everything would come out alright.

"You must hate me being so depressed all the time." I sat up a little, ignoring the dull ache in my head. "I'm sorry, it's just... it _sucks._"

"I know it does." Trowa kissed my forehead in an attempt to calm me. Instead, it just made my head throb, but I refused to complain.

"Why can't our parents just stay in love? Is it really that hard for them?" I clutched at his shirt, taking shaky breaths. "Did we do something that messed them up? Did-" I paused, the horror of horrors on my mind. "Did they find out about us? Were we not good enough, is that why Dad cheated?"

Trowa said my name several times, but I kept rambling. Eventually, he leaned in so we were nose to nose, and kissed me, gently at first, but with growing passion.

We heard the front door open, and Trowa jumped away, sitting up straight on the side of the bed so it looked like he was just keeping an eye on me.

"Kids," Mom called from the hall. I sat up a little to blink at her as she came into the doorway. "Pack up whatever you need, you're going to stay at Aunt Rena's house for a while." She slipped back out of the hall and Trowa and I shared a long, annoyed look.

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><p>We were at Aunt Rena's within a few hours, our suitcases barely piled on Auntie's porch before Mom peeled out of the driveway.<p>

"Well, those are mood swings for you." Aunt Rena laughed. She either didn't know about the baby, or she wasn't worried. "Come on inside, kids, I have cider."

Aunt Rena has forever been the one that Trowa and I have told our secrets, though we didn't tell her the big one. We had clung to her legs and cried for Aunt Rena as children, and as teens, she was the one that would let you shove her in the pool, fully clothed, and she would come out laughing to get even. She was much more a sibling to us than an aunt, despite being way older than us.

"You kids look down." Aunt Rena frowned as she poured us each a glass of apple cider. "Cathy, I heard about your head is it alright?" She paused when I shrugged and added, "Trowa, I know the divorce is hard on you, do you want to talk about it?" Trowa only shrugged in response, and Aunt Rena put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at us. "Ok, seriously, what is wrong with you two? I know it's hard with what your parents are going through, especially with your Mom being pregnant, but come on, it's not a sin to smile."

"Auntie?" I asked softly, and Trowa shot me a surprised look. He knew what I was going to do, and although he was a little panicked at the aspect of it, he wasn't going to stop me. "Can we tell you a secret?"

"Of course you can, Cat." Aunt Rena leaned against the counter, looking between us. "You can tell me anything."

"Trowa and I are..." I struggled for a word or phrase that wouldn't sound wrong. "We're in love. With each other."

"Oh." Aunt Rena blinked for a moment, and then smiled. "How nice! You're a very cute couple."

Trowa and I looked at each other, blinking wide eyes. "What?" We chorused, turning back to Aunt Rena.

"Well, you're not technically related, so it's not a big deal." Aunt Rena shrugged. "Besides, I've always noticed the way you two were always together, even as little kids." She turned to Trowa and smiled. "Even when you first came to live with the family, you always said Cathy was the prettiest girl you'd ever seen." She smiled at me and added, "And you, you wouldn't let go of Trowa's hand for more than two seconds, and when he got scared you would clutch him against you like you weren't going to let anyone touch him ever again. I'm just not surprised."

"Do Mom and Dad know?" Trowa asked, his eyes still wide as dinner plates.

Aunt Rena started to say something, but then the phone rang. She grabbed it, made a few quick, uh huh and oh my noises, and then grabbed her purse and keys. "Lock the door after me, I'll be back as soon as I can manage. There's food in the fridge, your rooms are ready, and money for takeout is in the cupboard."

"Where are you going?" I asked as she ran for the door.

"I have to meet your Mom at the hospital, something is wrong." Aunt Rena opened the door. "She says you can't come, alright? Stay here."

I took in a deep breath as she shut the door, and then I looked at Trowa for a few moments before I said. "I hate this family, but I love you. You understand that, right?"

"Completely." Trowa whispered as he stared at the counter and traced a stain on the white pattern.

Sometimes, I wondered if things would ever get better.

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><p>AN: I'm off to clean my room now to the sounds of anime playing, but what did you think?


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I didn't trust myself to update lately, especially since yesterday I had been up all night and would've missed a lot of mistakes, more than usual. Anyway, let's get going with this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make a profit from this.

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><p>Two hours later, Trowa had turned on the TV, but no one was watching it. It was long past dinnertime, but it had been a unanimous vote that we weren't hungry. At the moment, we were crammed into one of the larger chairs together, leaning on each other and holding hands.<p>

The doorknob rattled and then the door opened. Aunt Rena stood there, looking exhausted, but smiling.

"Is Mom ok? And the baby?" I asked, because I knew Trowa wouldn't say anything, no matter how much he wanted to.

"She just had a scare." She shut the door behind her and smiled at the two of us huddled together. "Everything's fine."

Trowa and I both smiled slightly and gave a sigh of relief. Neither of us moved though, and Aunt Rena slumped into a chair across from us, throwing her legs over one of the arms.

"So, did you guys eat?" She glanced between us. We both gave her a similar "are you crazy?" look and she just laughed. "Alright, I'll make something. Could you get a forklift to get me to the kitchen?"

Trowa chuckled and I couldn't resist laughing a little too. We helped her up and she hugged us both.

"I'll love you kids no matter what." She mumbled as she kissed both of us on the cheek. "I don't care if you're dating each other, and if your parents hate it so much, you can come live with me."

That was reassuring, since we still hadn't been able to tell them for fear of something like that happening.

"You won't tell them?" Trowa looked at Aunt Rena with worried eyes.

"Not if you don't want me to." Aunt Rena released us to eye both of us. "You kids aren't doing anything you shouldn't be, right?"

"No, we don't have sex." I blushed at just the word, looking away in embarrassement. Even Trowa had a dusting of pink over his cheeks, and he wasn't one to blush easily.

"Then I see no need to tell them until you're ready." Aunt Rena let go of us and flitted into the kitchen. "How does pizza sound?"

It was late, and by the time we actually sat down it was almost 10 PM, but I found that I was slightly less nervous than I usually was. At the very worst, we had somewhere to go. We had someone besides Relena who knew about us, and supported us.

Better yet, she was family.

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><p>As we got ready for bed, me standing to the left of the mirror to wash my face, Trowa brushing his teeth at the right, Aunt Rena watched us.<p>

"You two are a really sweet couple." Aunt Rena smiled at us. "If your parents can't appreciate that, I can take you here. It would be fun to have you two here." She slipped down the hall.

My cleanser-covered hand slipped off my forehead, flecking cleanser in my eye. Before I even complained about the pain, Trowa handed me a wet washcloth to wipe my eye.

"So much for 'adults just don't get it.'" I said, with a smile to my tone, and wiped my eye and then my face down.

"Yeah..." Trowa spit the toothpaste foam in the sink and then sighed. "But home is home, regardless if they want us there or not..."

"True..." I muttered as I stared into the mirror.

It was all too true.

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><p>AN: It was more of a laid-back chapter, really, sorry. I'm doing my best. What did you think?


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I try to update every day, but it just hasn't worked lately, with the storms and my whacked out sleep schedule. I'll try to get back on track. Anyway, without further procrastination...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make any profit from this.

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><p>"Your Mother wants you to come home." Aunt Rena told us nearly five days later. We had both been getting antsy, after all, school was about to start, and Aunt Rena had taken us school shopping because Mom wasn't supposed to do much, and she hadn't called to see if we would come home until the night before.<p>

"We can still come back here if we tell her and she kicks us out?" I asked softly. "Because I'm not expecting a reaction of 'oh, honey you're in love, that's wonderful, let's talk boys!' from her."

Trowa gave a nod to confirm that he agreed with me on that. He was holding my hand, and I probably had a deathgrip on his hand that was cutting off his circulation, but he wasn't complaining.

I almost didn't want to go back home. Mom's house was home to us, but when we went home, I didn't want to have to sneak around with Trowa for any amount of time. But I also didn't want to give Mom the shock of her life when she was pregnant. Still, while waiting until the baby was born sometimes seemed like the safest situation for Mom and the baby, it seemed like it would be incredibly hard to hide our relationship for that much longer.

Especially when we had been ready to tell them on the night they admitted their marriage had gone rocky.

"Of course, you just call and I'll come pick you up, any hour of the night or day." Aunt Rena kissed my forehead and Trowa's cheek. "Come on, get packed up."

It took us a few hours to get everything into Aunt Rena's van. All our new school clothes had been washed, but were put back into the bags to travel. Our notebooks and other school supplies were put in our suitcases, crammed in anyway.

When we got there, we knocked and rang the doorbell... for fifteen minutes. The door was locked, and eventually Trowa picked the lock on the garage back door to see if the car was there. It was, which led us to believe that she was ignoring us.

"Her cell rings and she doesn't pick up." Aunt Rena sighed. "Trowa, you're the tallest, go look in her bedroom window. If we can't see her from there, then we're going to call the hospital. I should be able to see if she was admitted from there."

Aunt Rena and I waited while Trowa went to peek in Mom's bedroom window; she was supposed to be on bed rest, so she should've been in there.

Trowa came back around the side of the house, shaking his head. Aunt Rena dialed the hospital, but they had her on hold.

"Cathy!" Relena ran out from Milliardo and Noin's house, waving her arms to get my attention. "We tried to get a hold of you, but I think your cell is dead."

"Yeah, probably, why?" I blinked at her, studying her. "What's going on?"

"I don't know the whole story, but an ambulance came and took your Mom." Relena shrugged, her eyebrows furrowed. "We kept trying to call you, I'm sorry, I didn't know your aunt's number."

"Alright, thank you." I turned to Aunt Rena and Trowa, who were already getting back into the car. "Thanks, Relena, I'll talk to you when we get back."

Relena nodded, wished me luck, and then I hopped into the backseat of the van with Trowa.

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><p>Aunt Rena made a huge fuss, saying that no one called her when she's the next of kin, and she was on the emergency call sheet. Surprisingly, that put the hospital into high gear, and we were led to Mom's room within a matter of minutes.<p>

Mom looked like hell. She was pale as the sheets she lay against, and she had an IV in each hand. Her eyes were closed, and even Aunt Rena, always the most emotionally stable, had to gasp and whisper, "Oh good God..."

I would've stepped back if not for Trowa holding me up. Even so, his hold on me twitched, he wasn't any better off about this than I was.

"She's asleep, right?" I asked softly. "Because she looks like..."

"Hello, Rena." A doctor smiled at our Aunt from just behind Trowa. "She's asleep at the moment, yes." The doctor behind us motioned for us to move so he could come in. "I'm very sorry about the misunderstanding and not calling you. But Ms. Bloom was brought in earlier today when she became dizzy and severely dehydrated. When questioned, she said she couldn't keep anything down due to her pregnancy, and she was brought in to be given IV nutrients and fluids. Both her and the baby will be fine, but it's likely they'll have to be kept here until her stomach has settled enough that she can keep a significant amount of nutrients and fluids down."

Mom cracked an eye open and looked at Trowa and I. "You two look snug over there, is there something you're not telling me?"

The doctor and Aunt Rena slipped from the room, leaving Trowa and I with Mom.

I decided to just come out with it and say it. "Mom, Trowa and I are dating."

Mom blinked, and then rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. "Why am I not surprised? Go home with Rena, I'll deal with this later..."

Trowa and I slipped out of the room, looking at each other. It was clear we were thinking the same thing.

One, she said she wasn't surprised. Therefore, she couldn't be that mad, right?

Two, she said she'd deal with us later, so how would she "deal" with us?

Three, would she try to split us up?

Four, we wouldn't be split up, no matter what Mom said.

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><p>AN: I really wasn't sure how to do this chapter, but I wanted somebody to tell their Mother already. It ended up being Cathy because Trowa was unsure about it and Aunt Rena said she wouldn't. What did you think of this slightly longer chapter?


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Big thanks goes to Truish, who lets me rant about this story for as long as I want, and gives me so much encouragement. Thank you so much Truish, the dedication goes to you! Also, thank you to Kimiko17 for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make any profit from this.

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><p>"Oh yeah?" Aunt Rena asked, twirling the phone cord around her fingers. "That's good, the kids will be glad to hear that. Alright, you get some rest and we'll come see you soon. I love you too. Bye." She clicked the phone back into the cradle and looked at us.<p>

Trowa and I stood in front of her, waiting with baited breath and bug eyes. We blinked at her, expecting some kind of response immediately.

"That was your Mom." Aunt Rena smiled. "Your Dad and her are choosing to go through some intensive couple therapy while she's in the hospital. They want to be able to get back together."

My stomach dropped into my pinky toe, because somehow, although I thought I had wanted to hear that, it didn't seem right. I gave Trowa a look and he hugged me tightly, completely understanding.

"They shouldn't be trying to get back together just because of the baby..." I murmured. "If it wasn't working, a baby won't make everything better. A baby puts stress on a relationship, with all the work, and if the relationship isn't functioning correctly, a baby can't fix it. They're adults, why don't they get that?"

Aunt Rena and Trowa both peered at me, looking pretty shocked.

"I'm not as stupid as I look." I sighed, patting Trowa on the cheek in a play slap. "I just get it."

"You're going to be one hell of an adult, Cathy." Aunt Rena smiled. "But maybe there's some other reason they think they can make it work. Maybe your Dad is willing to get help for his problems and your Mom is willing to give him another chance."

Trowa and I leveled our Aunt with a stare. Aunt Rena sighed.

"Ok, it probably is for the baby and it probably won't work." Aunt Rena hugged Trowa and I tightly. "But you should think about the best and be prepared for the worst. Negative thoughts aren't going to help out any."

"It's tearing us apart." Trowa whispered, and it was obvious he was speaking for both of us as he did. "If they're going to separate, then they need to do it. If they're going to work it out, they need to do it. We can't take this instability, this left-right, up-down, hot-cold attitude from them."

I didn't have to nod, everyone knew I agreed.

"It's hard for them to decide." Aunt Rena leaned against the counter. "They've been together a long time, and while they're attached to each other, they see huge flaws that they worry can't be fixed."

I leaned my head against Trowa's chest and didn't say anything. There was an ache, deep in my chest, that I knew wouldn't go away until everything was stabilized.

"It'll be ok." Trowa whispered in my ear and he kissed my temple. The feeling of his lips on my skin made me smile, at least a little. "You and I know it will be ok."

I leaned against him, exhausted with the tension of it all.

"You two are so damn cute." Aunt Rena chuckled as she headed for her room. "Keep it in check, you two!"

'Keep it in check' was Aunt Rena's favorite phrase for telling us not to jump each other's bones while she wasn't in the room. Every time she said it, both of us were guaranteed to blush, and she knew it. She was merely toying with us, and she knew it.

But she loved Trowa and me, but most of all she loved _us_. She didn't care that society considered us siblings; she accepted that we were in love.

And she loved to tease us, just like she had my parents when they were our age.

Secretly, we enjoyed every minute of it.

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><p>Aunt Rena had a date that night, with Mom's doctor. She had known Doctor Teal previously, and as she said, they'd "had some chemistry on and off for years now." Trowa and I promised not to do anything stupid, and we told her to be home by eleven, her "curfew".<p>

When Aunt Rena's car clunked out of the driveway, Trowa and I retreated to my bedroom, curling up together in silent, stressed out understanding.

The phone rang, and though Trowa and I had been told to let it ring, we crept out to the answering machine to listen.

"Trowa, Cathy, you pick up the phone this instant. I know you're not asleep yet." Mom didn't sound angry, just exasperated. "I need to talk to you two."

Trowa and I looked at each other, and then I picked up the phone. "Hold on, Mom." I put her on speakerphone and placed the phone back in the cradle. "Ok, we're both listening."

"I'm not going to try to separate you two." Mom sighed.

Trowa and I looked between each with bright smiles at that.

"But." Mom continued. "I expect that any relationship you have is pure in nature, and-"

"It is." Trowa and I chorused.

"We're not going to tell your father until he's got some of his issues worked out at least." Mom sounded exhausted as she spoke, each word carrying the weight of the world. "Simply because he doesn't need to hear that his children are together right now. Understood?"

I sighed softly. "Yes, Mom. We've got it."

It appeared that we'd have to continue our charade a little longer.

I hated that idea.

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><p>AN: I wanted a slightly longer chapter, since I haven't updated in a while. What did you think? I'm also going to try to start something new in the Gundam Wing section after this is over, because Sensitive Hearing is just not working. I am trying to decrease the amount of projects I have though, since I have two Pretear projects, a Spiral, two Vampire Knights and a Naruto. Anyway, please leave a review if you can.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I meant to add to this about two days ago, but I was exhausted, and couldn't do it. I just kept getting one-shot ideas, so I gave up and went to bed. Anyway, for those of you that are reading, I will try to finish this story up whenever I wake up, if it isn't storming, but for now, here's this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make any profit from this.

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><p>Mom and Dad went through intensive couple therapy and they lasted about two weeks. Through those two weeks, we would get a call every day from Mom, reviewing what had happened that day, how much closer we were to being able to spill the relationship beans to Dad. And then, on a Friday afternoon, we realized that we weren't getting that call. Trowa and I were curled up on the couch together, at five o'clock, and the phone was silent. Mom had always called before lunch, and we knew that any news we <em>would<em> get wasn't good.

Aunt Rena could tell we didn't want to talk about it, and she left us alone for the most part. Trowa and I lay together on the couch, his arms around me and his face buried in my hair, my face tucked against his shoulder.

We were quiet until the phone rang, and even then we knew it wasn't good news.

"Your Father is going to go be with his mistress." Mom's voice was colder than a rock at the bottom of the artic ocean. "And he says that he doesn't want custody of you two because _she _doesn't want kids. So there's not going to be a custody battle, and you don't have to tell him about your relationship if you don't feel like it. In fact, you don't have to tell him anything."

Trowa and I looked at each other, and I swallowed my tears. Mom went on, saying that with any luck she would be out of the hospital in a few more days, and that we could come home, relationship and all.

School was starting on Monday, and the commute from Aunt Rena's house would be a hassle, so Trowa and I offered each other a half smile at that. At least we could get to school easily from home, even if it wasn't the place we wanted to be at the moment.

The man who had raised us, had been there for everything, had cheated on Mom, they were getting a divorce, and he didn't want us because his mistress didn't like kids. It was heartbreaking to have the family torn apart, but to have it torn apart like that was like having your heart torn out by someone you trusted. It hurt more than just the usual pain; betrayal was there as well.

Mom said she'd call us when she was being released, and Aunt Rena could take all of us home at once. We looked forward to it, although it would definitely be odd being home without Dad being there.

But the weekend came and went, and we headed to school that Monday without word from Mom. Aunt Rena took her lunch break at work to stop in at the hospital and ask what was going on, but all they said was that Mom still couldn't keep enough down to sustain her and it would be a while longer.

School was a huge difficulty in it's own. Trowa and I had so many choices. Should we act like a couple at school? Should we only tell our friends? Some of the people at school, distant non-friends thought we were blood related, so that could cause problems. It was a huge knotted web of trouble for us, and we weren't sure how to handle it. Before I knew it, my friends were trying to set me up with half the male population of my grade, and Trowa's friends were asking him why he wasn't dating.

It would only get more difficult, and we knew that. But after all these years, we weren't a couple to give up.

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><p>AN: Short chapter, I know. I want to add to everything I can before I go to bed, so it had to be short so I can add to other things. But I made a few points, I think, and I hope you liked it. There's only going to be a couple more chapters, possibly an epilogue, and then we're done here. It's kind of sad to be wrapping up here...


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Alright, I've been up all night, but I'm going to do my best. But alert me if you see anything majorly wrong, please and thank you. Special thanks goes to Truish for getting excited every time I mentioned this story and reviewing, and Kimiko17 for reviewing. Now let's get going!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. I don't make any profit from this. And I clearly don't have enough caffeine to sustain me at the moment.

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><p>We finally got home within two weeks, but Mom was on strict bed rest, so we were left on our own for the most part.<p>

Mom was napping when the phone rang, and I picked it up quickly so she wouldn't wake up. "Hello?" I whispered into the receiver. "Who is this?"

The person on the other end drew a shaky breath. "Cathy, can I talk to your Mother?" Dad asked, taking another shaky breath.

"Mother is asleep." I said as calmly as I could manage. But it was clear that Dad was crying, and that made my hands quake. Dad never cried unless something was serious. The last time he had cried was when Uncle Matthew died.

"I really need to talk to your Mother, Catherine." He repeated, and he was clearly trying to sober his tone up, but the tears were still evident.

"I will see if she's awake." I shot back. Where was Trowa when I needed him so desperately? "If she's not, you're frickin' out of luck." I was still mad that he had abandoned our family, and it showed. I carried the cordless phone into Mom's room to see she was sitting up.

"Who's on the phone, baby?" Mom whispered as I handed it over.

"Dad. I don't want to talk to him." I spun on my heel, shut the door behind me, and ran straight into Trowa.

"Dad's on the phone?" Trowa asked, but he didn't want to listen in any more than I did. He put a hand on the small of my back and guided me away, towards my room.

"Yes. He was crying, I think he wants Mom to take him back." I looked up at Trowa and took a deep, cleansing breath, just like how they teach you in yoga. "I hope she doesn't."

Trowa didn't say anything, and we sat on the edge of my bed. The silence rang in my ears, and Trowa held me close. Moments passed and the numbers slid by on my alarm clock. No one said anything, and we couldn't even hear Mom on the phone luckily. Eventually we lay down and curled up together in understanding.

"Kids?" Mom called, and neither of us were rushing when she called us to her room. We didn't want to hear that Mom was probably going to take him back, not after all he'd done, all he'd said. "Your Father's mistress left him. He wants partial custody now."

Trowa and I shared a long look. We didn't want to tell Dad about us. Even though he had done something way worse, cheated on his wife, he wouldn't_ get_ us dating. Dads aren't like Moms in that aspect, they don't get strange romances any more than they get PMS, unless they're in a strange romance, and then that's a different story.

"He's coming here to talk to me." Mom sighed. "I suggest you two tell him now, before he and I start to talk. That way he can decide if he really wants custody of you two despite your relationship."

I swallowed hard and grabbed Trowa's hand. I hated the fact that our relationship burdened family choices. I loved Trowa, and there was no questioning that. I just hated that Dad wouldn't understand it.

So far no one had questioned our love, no one had been grossed out. But very few people knew, and one person hating our relationship could be our downfall...

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><p>AN: This was a completely different chapter and I rewrote the last piece, because I truly hated it. I will start the next one now, but I'm not making any guarantees about when it will be done. I keep dazing off in my chair. Anyway, what did you think?


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Alright, I wasn't able to get this chapter up directly after I finished the last one, I did the author note and then I passed out. My bad sleep schedule does not agree with me. Enough of my excuses. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and we will be tying this up soon. Don't worry though; I've got plans for a new AU fic, involving Relena. That's all I'll say now, at least until this one is done. Let's get on with it before you guys fall asleep at my babbling though!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the characters. I make no profit from this. And I seriously need to work on this more often.

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><p>"You kids have something to tell me?" Dad stood, looking pretty twitchy when both Trowa and I greeted him at the front door.<p>

Trowa and I looked at each other for a long moment. When we broke eye contact, I looked back to Dad.

"Trowa and I are dating each other." I said evenly and smiling at Dad. If I was going into this battle, I was going to start it with a smile and end it with kicking and screaming if that was what it took. I loved Trowa, and I wasn't about to give him up because the man who had cheated on my Mother said no.

Dad's hands curled into fists and began to shake. Slowly, he touched one hand to his chest on the left side, and then fell to his knees.

"Trowa." I tried to keep my voice even, but this wasn't a good situation. I wanted him to call emergency services so I could stay with Dad, but Trowa wasn't having that.

"No." Trowa flicked his eyes off to my left, and I followed orders and called 911. When the ambulance veered into the driveway, took Dad out on a stretcher and asked if either of us wanted to come with them, Trowa and I shook our heads. We needed to stay with Mom, and that was understandable to the paramedics, who were clearly the same ones who had taken Mom to the hospital.

"What's going on?" Mom called from her room. "Why was there an ambulance here?"

"I made you make the call, I'll tell her." Trowa kissed my forehead and headed for the master bedroom. I didn't hear any kind of reaction, and Trowa came back out, shrugging. "She took it pretty well, considering she was married to him."

"Was." I repeated. The finished divorce papers had been all over the coffee table for days, I hadn't noticed their disappearance until now.

Trowa and I collapsed on the couch, both of us crying a little, the shock denying us any real tears. We were all over each other, not in the sexual sense, but in a needy sense. It was the sense of being distressed and needing something with a beating heart close to you. We checked on Mom every fifteen minutes, but she didn't seem shocked, just a little bit down.

We managed, with some help from Aunt Rena, to finagle our way into getting update calls about Dad on our cell phones. Ex-wife isn't next of kin, but children are, so we got calls from Dad and the hospital, telling exactly what was going on with Dad.

Yes, he had a heart attack. No, it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

No, Dad did not want to talk about Trowa and I dating.

Mom was starting to show by the time Dad got out of the hospital, and he came straight to our house to talk to her.

Mom sent Trowa and I over to Relena's house while they talked, since she didn't want Dad having another heart attack. All three of us, Relena, Trowa and I were pressed against the window, trying to peer into Mom's bedroom window. We weren't having much luck, until we heard Dad's car peel out of the driveway. Things had obviously not gone well.

When Trowa and I slipped back into our house, and went straight to Mom, she seemed calm as ever. "He says he doesn't want to see you until your little 'fling' is over. Don't feel pressured to break up because of him though." She shrugged.

Days passed, and Dad didn't change his mind. It seemed our relationship with our Father was over.

The three of us clung to each other like barnacles to a boat. We were all we had left.

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><p>AN: This is actually the last chapter. Sorry, I didn't warn you, I didn't know. There will be an epilogue, and I swear, I'm going to try and have that up this morning. I promise you a - at least mostly – happy ending. If it isn't at least mostly happy, you can track me down and slap me, ok? Anyway, what are you thinking about this? I know it was sad, but like I said, I try my best to keep my promises. I'm hoping to have the epilogue up in a few hours.


	15. Epilogue

A/N: This is the epilogue, after this, we are moving on to a new Gundam Wing story that I do not have a title for. Just know that it is a love triangle in the range of DuoXRelenaXHeero, and hear me when I say love triangle, not threesome. Anyway, here's the epilogue, and I hope you guys like it. Eventually I will have another TrowaXCatherine project, just not yet. I don't know when, I just don't want to get sick of them. I have got to stop babbling like this...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or make any profit from this. I do own Angela, the baby, so please ask if you want to use her.

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><p>Months passed. The baby was born, a baby girl that Mom, Trowa and I named Angela, for the namesake, angel.<p>

We started getting hang-ups on the landline a few days after Angela was born, and we attributed it to telemarketers at first. But eventually, the phone rang, and a familiar voice came onto the machine.

"Hey... I'm so sorry I haven't been around." I looked up from Angela, who was cradled in my arms, at Dad's voice. Trowa pretended to ignore him, but I knew him too well to think he actually wasn't paying any attention to Dad. "Trowa, Catherine, I wanted to tell you that I've accepted your relationship... And Kelly, if you want me to help out with the baby, I'd be more than happy to." He paused and even Mom was staring at the phone, slack-jawed. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to be around lately, I've been trying to get myself some help. Call me back if you want, it would be really great to at least talk to my kids again."

The machine began to beep after he hung up, and Mom stood there, eyeing the erase button with a look that only a woman who just had a baby can get away with.

Trowa and I blinked at each other for a minute, and then I handed Angela over to him and kissed his lips briefly. I stood and picked up the phone. "I've got this Mom."

Mom gave me a scalding glance, but then it softened and she nodded, moving over to watch Trowa with Angela.

I dialed Dad's number and listened to it ring.

Some people would probably say that Dad didn't deserve a second chance; after all he had cheated on Mom and said he didn't want Trowa and me because we were dating. But he was our Father, regardless, and if he had forgiven Trowa and me, then I could forgive him too.

I listened to the phone ring for a few more seconds and then I heard the click as he picked up. I smiled as I said words I hadn't for months.

"Hi Dad."

* * *

><p>AN: I feel like I ended on an odd, yet somehow relevant note. I wish there was more romance in the end, but I liked it the way it was, subtle and sweet. Anyway, what did you guys think? And thank you to everyone who's encouraged this story; I know it's not a popular couple.


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